Creep behaviour of Fe3Al-based alloys in DO3 phase field

A study is made to bring out the effect of alloying with Cr, Ti or Mn on the creep behaviour of Fe3Al. Impression creep experiments have been carried out in the DO3 phase field. In all the alloys, power law creep behaviour is observed in the stress range covered. The stress exponent for steady state creep rate and the activation energy for creep indicate that the creep rate is controlled by the dislocation climb process. Among the alloying elements studied, addition of Ti is most effective in improving the creep resistance.

Parabolized stability equation models for predicting large-scale mixing noise of turbulent round jets

Parabolized stability equation (PSE) models are being deve loped to predict the evolu-tion of low-frequency, large-scale wavepacket structures and their radiated sound in high-speed turbulent round jets. Linear PSE wavepacket models were previously shown to be in reasonably good agreement with the amplitude envelope and phase measured using a microphone array placed just outside the jet shear layer. 1,2 Here we show they also in very good agreement with hot-wire measurements at the jet center line in the potential core,for a different set of experiments. 3 When used as a model source for acoustic analogy, the predicted far field noise radiation is in reasonably good agreement with microphone measurements for aft angles where contributions from large -scale structures dominate the acoustic field. Nonlinear PSE is then employed in order to determine the relative impor-tance of the mode interactions on the wavepackets. A series of nonlinear computations with randomized initial conditions are use in order to obtain bounds for the evolution of the modes in the natural turbulent jet flow. It was found that n onlinearity has a very limited impact on the evolution of the wavepackets for St≥0. 3. Finally, the nonlinear mechanism for the generation of a low-frequency mode as the difference-frequency mode 4,5 of two forced frequencies is investigated in the scope of the high Reynolds number jets considered in this paper.

Microstructure and texture evolution during sub-transus thermomechanical processing of Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy: part I. hot rolling in (alpha plus beta) phase field

In the current study, the evolution of microstructure and texture has been studied for Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy during sub-transus thermomechanical processing. This part of the work deals with the deformation response of the alloy by rolling in the (alpha + beta) phase field. The (alpha + beta) annealing behavior of the rolled specimen is communicated in part II. Rolled microstructures of the alloys exhibit either kinked or straight alpha colonies depending on their orientations with respect to the principal rolling directions. The Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy shows an improved rolling response compared with the alloy Ti-6Al-4V because of smaller alpha lamellae size, coherency of alpha/beta interfaces, and multiple slip due to orientation factors. Accelerated dynamic globularization for this alloy is similarly caused by the intralamellar transverse boundary formation via multiple slip and strain accumulation at TiB particles. The (0002)(alpha) pole figures of rolled Ti-6Al-4V alloy shows ``TD splitting'' at lower rolling temperatures because of strong initial texture. Substantial beta phase mitigates the effect of starting texture at higher temperature so that ``RD splitting'' characterizes the basal pole figure. Weak starting texture and easy slip transfer for Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy produce simultaneous TD and RD splittings in basal pole figures at all rolling temperatures.

Experimental study of phase equilibria in the system Cu-Al-Sn

Phase equilibria in the Cu-rich corner of the ternary system Cu-Al-Sn have been re-investigated. Final equilibrium microstructures of 20 ternary alloy compositions near Cu3Al were used to refine the ternary phase diagram. The microstructures were characterized using optical microscopy (OM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), electron probe microanalysis and transmission electron microscopy. Isothermal sections at 853, 845, 833, 818, 808, 803 and 773 K have been composed. Vertical sections have been drawn at 2 and 3 at% Sn, showing beta(1) as a stable phase. Three-phase fields (alpha + beta + beta(1)) and (beta + beta(1) + gamma(1)) result from beta -> alpha + beta(1) eutectoid and beta + gamma(1) -> beta(1) peritectoid reactions forming metastable beta(1) in the binary Cu-Al. With the lowering of temperature from 853 to 818 K, these three-phase fields are shifted to lower Sn concentrations, with simultaneous shrinkage and shifting of (beta + beta(1)) two-phase field. The three-phase field (alpha + beta + gamma(1)) resulting from the binary reaction beta -> alpha + gamma(1) shifts to higher Sn contents, with associated shrinkage of the beta field, with decreasing temperature. With further reduction of temperature, a new ternary invariant reaction beta + beta(1) -> alpha + gamma(1) is observed at similar to 813 K. The beta disappears completely at 803 K, giving rise to the three-phase field (alpha + beta(1) + gamma(1)). Some general guidelines on the role of ternary additions (M) on the stability of the ordered beta(1) phase are obtained by comparing the results of this study with data in the literature on other systems in the systems group Cu-Al-M.

Phase Field Simulation of Equiaxed Microstructure Formation during Semi-solid Processing of A380 Al Alloy

A phase field modelling approach is implemented in the present study towards simulation of microstructure evolution during cooling slope semi solid slurry generation process of A380 Aluminium alloy. First, experiments are performed to evaluate the number of seeds required within the simulation domain to simulate near spherical microstructure formation, occurs during cooling slope processing of the melt. Subsequently, microstructure evolution is studied employing a phase field method. Simulations are performed to understand the effect of cooling rate on the slurry microstructure. Encouraging results are obtained from the simulation studies which are validated by experimental observations. The results obtained from mesoscopic phase field simulations are grain size, grain density, degree of sphericity of the evolving primary Al phase and the amount of solid fraction present within the slurry at different time frames. Effect of grain refinement also has been studied with an aim of improving the slurry microstructure further. Insight into the process has been obtained from the numerical findings, which are found to be useful for process control.

Polymorphic phase transition among the titania crystal structures using a solution-based approach: from precursor chemistry to nucleation process

Nanocrystalline titania are a robust candidate for various functional applications owing to its non-toxicity, cheap availability, ease of preparation and exceptional photochemical as well as thermal stability. The uniqueness in each lattice structure of titania leads to multifaceted physico-chemical and opto-electronic properties, which yield different functionalities and thus influence their performances in various green energy applications. The high temperature treatment for crystallizing titania triggers inevitable particle growth and the destruction of delicate nanostructural features. Thus, the preparation of crystalline titania with tunable phase/particle size/morphology at low to moderate temperatures using a solution-based approach has paved the way for further exciting areas of research. In this focused review, titania synthesis from hydrothermal/solvothermal method, conventional sol-gel method and sol-gel-assisted method via ultrasonication, photoillumination and ILs, thermolysis and microemulsion routes are discussed. These wet chemical methods have broader visibility, since multiple reaction parameters, such as precursor chemistry, surfactants, chelating agents, solvents, mineralizer, pH of the solution, aging time, reaction temperature/time, inorganic electrolytes, can be easily manipulated to tune the final physical structure. This review sheds light on the stabilization/phase transformation pathways of titania polymorphs like anatase, rutile, brookite and TiO2(B) under a variety of reaction conditions. The driving force for crystallization arising from complex species in solution coupled with pH of the solution and ion species facilitating the orientation of octahedral resulting in a crystalline phase are reviewed in detail. In addition to titanium halide/alkoxide, the nucleation of titania from other precursors like peroxo and layered titanates are also discussed. The nonaqueous route and ball milling-induced titania transformation is briefly outlined; moreover, the lacunae in understanding the concepts and future prospects in this exciting field are suggested.

Analogous stress and electric field driven structural transformation and decrease in polarization coherence on poling around the morphotropic phase boundary in BiScO3-PbTiO3

The nature of the stress and electric field driven structural and microstructural transformations in the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) compositions of the high Curie point piezoelectric system BiScO3-PbTiO3 has been examined by ex situ based techniques. Using a powder poling technique, which is based on the concept of exploiting the irreversible structural change that occurs after the application of a strong electric field and stress independently, it was possible to ascertain that both moderate stress and electric field induce identical structural transformation-a fraction of the monoclinic phase transforms irreversibly to the tetragonal phase. Moreover, analysis of the dielectric response before and after poling revealed a counterintuitive phenomenon of poling induced decrease in the spatial coherence of polarization for compositions around the MPB and not so for compositions far away from the MPB range. Exploiting the greater sensitivity of this technique, we demonstrate that the criticality associated with the interferroelectric transition spans a wider composition range than what is conventionally reported in the literature based on bulk x-ray/neutron powder diffraction techniques.

Metastable monoclinic and orthorhombic phases and electric field induced irreversible phase transformation at room temperature in the lead-free classical ferroelectric BaTiO3

For decades it has been a well-known fact that among the few ferroelectric compounds in the perovskite family, namely, BaTiO3, KNbO3, PbTiO3, and Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3, the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of BaTiO3 are considerably higher than the others in polycrystalline form at room temperature. Further, similar to ferroelectric alloys exhibiting morphotropic phase boundary, single crystals of BaTiO3 exhibit anomalously large piezoelectric response when poled away from the direction of spontaneous polarization at room temperature. These anomalous features in BaTiO3 remained unexplained so far from the structural standpoint. In this work, we have used high-resolution synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction, atomic resolution aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, in conjunction with a powder poling technique, to reveal that at 300 K (i) the equilibrium state of BaTiO3 is characterized by coexistence of metastable monoclinic Pm and orthorhombic (Amm2) phases along with the tetragonal phase, and (ii) strong electric field switches the polarization direction from the 001] direction towards the 101] direction. These results suggest that BaTiO3 at room temperature is within an instability regime, and that this instability is the fundamental factor responsible for the anomalous dielectric and piezoelectric properties of BaTiO3 as compared to the other homologous ferroelectric perovskite compounds at room temperature. Pure BaTiO3 at room temperature is therefore more akin to lead-based ferroelectric alloys close to the morphotropic phase boundary where polarization rotation and field induced ferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transformations play a fundamental role in influencing the dielectric and piezoelectric behavior.

AdS (in)stability: Lessons from the scalar field

We argued in arXiv: 1408.0624 that the quartic scalar field in AdS has features that could be instructive for answering the gravitational stability question of AdS. Indeed, the conserved charges identified there have recently been observed in the full gravity theory as well. In this paper, we continue our investigation of the scalar field in AdS and provide evidence that in the Two-Time Formalism (TTF), even for initial conditions that are far from quasi-periodicity, the energy in the higher modes at late times is exponentially suppressed in the mode number. Based on this and some related observations, we argue that there is no thermalization in the scalar TTF model within time-scales that go as similar to 1/epsilon(2), where epsilon measures the initial amplitude (with only low-lying modes excited). It is tempting to speculate that the result holds also for AdS collapse. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.

Field induced domain switching as the origin of anomalous lattice strain along non-polar direction in rhombohedral BiScO3-PbTiO3 close to the morphotropic phase boundary

The lattice strain and domain switching behavior of xBiScO(3)-(1-x) PbTiO3 (x = 0.40) was investigated as a function of cyclic field and grain orientation by in situ X-ray diffraction during application of electric fields. The electric field induced 200 lattice strain was measured to be five times larger than the 111 lattice strain in pseudorhombohedral xBiScO(3)-(1-x) PbTiO3 (x = 0.40). It is shown that the anomalous 200 lattice strain is not an intrinsic phenomenon, but arises primarily due to stress associated with the reorientation of the 111 domains in dense polycrystalline ceramic. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Phase-field elasticity model based on mechanical jump conditions

Computational models based on the phase-field method typically operate on a mesoscopic length scale and resolve structural changes of the material and furthermore provide valuable information about microstructure and mechanical property relations. An accurate calculation of the stresses and mechanical energy at the transition region is therefore indispensable. We derive a quantitative phase-field elasticity model based on force balance and Hadamard jump conditions at the interface. Comparing the simulated stress profiles calculated with Voigt/Taylor (Annalen der Physik 274(12):573, 1889), Reuss/Sachs (Z Angew Math Mech 9:49, 1929) and the proposed model with the theoretically predicted stress fields in a plate with a round inclusion under hydrostatic tension, we show the quantitative characteristics of the model. In order to validate the elastic contribution to the driving force for phase transition, we demonstrate the absence of excess energy, calculated by Durga et al. (Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 21(5):055018, 2013), in a one-dimensional equilibrium condition of serial and parallel material chains. To validate the driving force for systems with curved transition regions, we relate simulations to the Gibbs-Thompson equilibrium condition

A method for coupling the phase-field model based on a grand-potential formalism to thermodynamic databases

In this paper we derive an approach for the effective utilization of thermodynamic data in phase-field simulations. While the most widely used methodology for multi-component alloys is following the work by Eiken et al. (2006), wherein, an extrapolative scheme is utilized in conjunction with the TQ interface for deriving the driving force for phase transformation, a corresponding simplistic method based on the formulation of a parabolic free-energy model incorporating all the thermodynamics has been laid out for binary alloys in the work by Folch and Plapp (2005). In the following, we extend this latter approach for multi-component alloys in the framework of the grand-potential formalism. The coupling is applied for the case of the binary eutectic solidification in the Cr-Ni alloy and two-phase solidification in the ternary eutectic alloy (Al-Cr-Ni). A thermodynamic justification entails the basis of the formulation and places it in context of the bigger picture of Integrated Computational Materials Engineering. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Surface Energy Anisotropy on the Stability of Growth Fronts in Multiphase Alloys

Eutectic growth offers a variety of examples for pattern formation which are interesting both for theoreticians as well as experimentalists. One such example of patterns is ternary eutectic colonies which arise as a result of instabilities during growth of two solid phases. Here, in addition to the two major components being exchanged between the solid phases during eutectic growth, there is an impurity component which is rejected by both solid phases. During progress of solidification, there develops a boundary layer of the third impurity component ahead of the solidification front of the two solid phases. Similar to Mullins-Sekerka type instabilities, such a boundary layer tends to make the global solidification envelope unstable to morphological perturbations giving rise to two-phase cells. This phenomenon has been studied numerically in two dimensions for the conditions of directional solidification, by Plapp and Karma (Phys Rev E 66:061608, 2002) using phase-field simulations. While, in the work by Plapp and Karma (Phys Rev E 66:061608, 2002) all interfaces are isotropic, in our presentation, we extend the phase-field model by considering interfacial anisotropy in the solid-solid and solid-liquid interfaces and characterize the role of interfacial anisotropy on the stability of the growth front through phase-field simulations in two dimensions.

Synthesis, characterization and field emission properties of tin oxide nanowires

Tin oxide (SnO2) nanowires are synthesized by Au catalyzed chemical vapor deposition of Sn and C mixture at 900 degrees C by employing a continuous flow of Ar: O-2 (10:1) for an hour. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies indicate that the as-grown SnO2 nanowires are crystalline in nature with tetragonal rutile phase. Electron microscopy studies reveal towards high aspect ratio of nanowires. The field emission studies show that SnO2 nanowires grown on Si substrate exhibit low turn-on field of 1.75 V/mu m (at 0.1 mu A/cm(2)) and long-term emission stability over a period of more than 50 h with a current density of 4 mu A/cm(2) at a constant electric field of 2.25 V/mu m. Hardly any considerable degradation in the emission current is noticed even after 50 h which may be attributed to the high crystallinity of SnO2 nanowires. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On the Structural Stability of Melt Spun Ribbons of Fe95-x Zr (x) B4Cu1 (x=7 and 9) Alloys and Correlation with Their Magnetic Properties

Melt spun ribbons of Fe95-x Zr (x) B4Cu1 with x = 7 (Z7B4) and 9 (Z9B4) alloys have been prepared, and their structure and magnetic properties have been evaluated using XRD, DSC, TEM, VSM, and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The glass forming ability (GFA) of both alloys has been calculated theoretically using thermodynamical parameters, and Z9B4 alloy is found to possess higher GFA than that of Z7B4 alloy which is validated by XRD results. On annealing, the amorphous Z7B4 ribbon crystallizes into nanocrystalline alpha-Fe, whereas amorphous Z9B4 ribbon shows two-stage crystallization process, first partially to bcc solid solution which is then transformed to nanocrystalline alpha-Fe and Fe2Zr phases exhibiting bimodal distribution. A detailed phase analysis using Mossbauer spectroscopy through hyperfine field distribution of phases has been carried out to understand the crystallization behavior of Z7B4 and Z9B4 alloy ribbons. In order to understand the phase transformation behavior of Z7B4 and Z9B4 ribbons, molar Gibbs free energies of amorphous, alpha-Fe, and Fe2Zr phases have been evaluated. It is found that in case of Z7B4, alpha-Fe is always a stable phase, whereas Fe2Zr is stable at higher temperature for Z9B4. (C) The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2015